Op-Ed: Why Does Fashion Week Still Hate Big Boobs?
Ahead of FW23, we spoke to the designers behind the most chest-inclusive runway shows from last season to find out more.
The fashion industry, at large, has a problem with bigger chest sizes being showcased and celebrated on the runway. It’s a fact and one that continues to make itself known season after season. Unsurprisingly, following last season’s slew of fashion week showcases in New York, London, Milan and Paris, only a handful of designers’ showcases featured a true variety of chest sizes.
Traditionally, bigger chests have never been considered “cool” in fashion, and after SS23‘s presentations, it feels like they never will. We’ve come a long way with representing different bodies and ethnicities on the runway, but the fuller bust still seems to be the one that gets left behind. Despite the fact that the average breast size in the U.K. is a 36D, the fashion industry still seems to cling to the idea that small boobs are the only boobs, even when all evidence points to the contrary.
Fashion East designer Karoline Vitto believes that the over-sexualization of bigger chests is a big part of the problem and that for things to change, it’s our perception of bigger breasts and their proximity to “coolness” that needs to first. Vitto’s showcase was one of the most chest-inclusive shows at London Fashion Week last year. With a distinct focus on designing clothes that were made to fit the female form and not the other way around, the designer’s runway was a breath of fresh air, proving that fashion can not only be breast-inclusive but can look good doing it, too. So why aren’t more brands and designers doing it?
“When a woman with small breasts wears a runway piece, she is associated with words like ‘cool,’ ‘fresh’ and ‘edgy’. However, when a woman with fuller breasts wears the same piece she is often seen as ‘sexy,’ which is not always the message that they might want to convey, simply by existing in their body. It’s important to question that narrative and bring [further] representation around form and shape,” the designer tells Hypebae. Vitto adds that, within her work, she’d “love to dismantle the idea that a fuller chest or a curvier body needs to necessarily carry an element of sensuality.”
For the full piece, head to: https://hypebae.com/2023/2/why-does-fashion-hate-big-boobs-fuller-busts-op-ed-karoline-vitto-ester-manas-sinead-odwyer
